Siege of Osaka: The Battle Among the Tombs...

Well over a month ago, in an earlier posting on this Sengoku project, I foreshadowed an account of a table battle using a very slightly modified Portable Wargames rule set and the set-up of a Samurai Battles scenario for the Siege of Osaka: Battle among the Tombs, 1615. The board you see in the picture is home-made, and has the same dimensions as the Samurai Battles game system.

From an historical perspective, this battle followed immediately on from a previous action on the near side of river you see in the picture, over and around a ridge line just off the near edge of the map (see Sengoku Interlude for the historical background, and the battle). Following that action, the army of Tokugawa forced its way across the river to be once more brought to battle by the Osaka Clan.

These armies were very nearly equal in size and strength, the only difference being the mounted samurai unit under the direct command of Tadamasa himself. Here's the list:

Army Tokugawa:

1 Mounted Samurai unit @ 3SP (Strength Points) Elite
1 Mounted Samurai unit @3SP Average
2 Foot Samurai @ 4SP Elite (close combat weapons only)
2 Ashigaru Yari (Spear) @3SP Avg
2 Ashigaru Yari @3SP Poor
2 Ashigaru Tepo (Shot) @2SP Avg
1 Ashigaru Yumi (Bow) @2SP Avg
Army Command Tadamasa (with elite mounted samurai)
Sub-command Tatsaki (with poor the ashigaru yari unit fording stream)

11 units + 2 Commanders => 3 Activation dice.
Total 32SP: Exhausted after minus 11SP; rout after minus 16SP.

Army Osaka:

1 Mounted Samurai unit @3SP Elite
2 Foot Samurai @4SP Elite (close combat weapons only)
2 Ashigaru Yari @3SP Avg
2 Ashigaru Yari @3SP Poor 
2 Ashigaru Tepo @2SP Avg
1 Ashigaru Yumi @2SP Avg 
Army Command Sanada (with mounted samurai)
Sub-command Susukida (with foot samurai on left flank)

10 units + 2 commanders => 3 activation dice.
Total 29SP: Exhausted after minus 10SP; routed after minus 15SP.

Getting up early in the morning, Army Tokugawa is in the process of crossing the Ishikawa stream. Having established a line on the far side, the rear elements are still crossing at the fords. Tadamasa himself is still some distance short of the right hand river crossings. As the situation seemed to be one in which who has the initiative is in doubt, I rolled to determine who opened the ball.  The White dice are Tokugawa; the Green, Osaka. 

A glance at the leading picture will reveal that winning the initiative roll did Tokugawa's army no good; a completely woeful score for activations. The number of units to be activated is the dice score divided by two, remainders ignored. Well, he could have done worse, but two units out of 11 to move, and the whole army not yet up, the most sensible course seemed to me to bring some of the laggard units into line.

The Osaka roll in reply proved almost the exact reverse of the Tokugawa: two fours and a six, divided by two: seven units activated.  At once, the left of the Osaka line surged forward to close the distance to the enemy.... 

... and then Osaka seized (won) the initiative (roll). although the activation dice were moderately disappointing - just 4 units could be activated this time - they were able to engage the enemy not far from the river crossings. Susukida's foot samurai struck a unit of arquebusiers (ashigaru tepo). 

The combat dice below tell the story. Requiring a 5 to hit, the ashigaru didn't come close. But the two rolled by the samurai added for the superior weight (two 'grades' +2) and the general with the unit (+1) came to 5.  Having already hit the gunners once, this second blow wiped out them out, opening up a gap in the Tokugawa line.

The Tokugawa army response, with 5 units to be activated, was to set the shape of the whole battle for the duration. 11 rolled - 5 units activated...

... The order went out to Tatsaki on the left to  push forward and roll over the rather weak Osaka right wing, close by the Tomb of Emperor Ojin (represented by the Memorial Gate in the pictures). The attack scored an immediate success, the Osaka foot samurai here taking a hit. This left Tokugawa just enough initiative in the main battle to restore the gap in the line, and to bring his own mounted samurai across the river.

 

The action was becoming general all along the Tokugawa centre and left, and losses were beginning to mount, too. Apart from the loss of a unit of arquebusiers, the bowmen had been reduced by half its strength, and one of the better quality spearmen had also taken losses. On the whole, the Osaka army was coming off rather better from the close quarter fighting. On the extreme left, their own ashigaru yumi had enveloped the Tokugawa line, flanking Tokugawa's bowmen.

Luck came at least partially to the aid of the yellow flags: a fine activation roll bringing 7 units into the action. Tokugawa was able to bring on a general battle all along the front line.  This was helped by winning the next initiative roll, which, with activations for 5 units, seemed to indicate matters were going well for Tokugawa.

Losses had indeed been fairly heavy on both sides. So far, Tokugawa was enjoying the greater success on their left, at this point having knocked off 2SP from their opponents at no loss to themselves.  The main battle, however, was going less well. Osaka had to mourn the loss of two further SPs, but Tokugawa had by now lost 5. 

Fortunately Tadamasa could now call up the second unit of mounted samurai towards the main action (though he might instead have reinforced what success the Tokugawa army had so far enjoyed, to push on the left).

For their part, Osaka were inclined to leave the isolated pair of units on the right to look after themselves whilst the main army concentrated upon the foes to their front. In their own activation roll, 4 out of 5 points available went to this front. One of those went to the private battle far out to the Osaka left between the respective bow units.

However one activation point was spared to bring forward the foot samurai on the right to engage against the odds the Tokugawa left.

Tokugawa's activation roll - 9/2 -> 4 units, was spent mostly in engaging the enemy, and was successful in driving them back in the centre, but without doing much real harm.

Then the effort to wrest the initiative came to something of a lull on both sides, Tokugawa managing to activate just three units.  At this point the situation was becoming rather worrying for the Tokugawa army, having by now lost 7SP - 4 of them from units destroyed - to just the 4 from Osaka. One of the two destroyed units was the the unlucky bowmen on the right, freeing up the Osaka unit that defeated them. None of the Osaka units had yet been destroyed.

On the other hand, the Green activation roll turned out to be equally dismal. Their line had been pushed back a little, and could not have been easy to restore...

...But then the Osaka army once more found their impetus, winning the initiative roll back again, and 5 units activated. Two units swung off to the left to take on and isolate the Tokugawa samurai not far from the Emperor Ingyo tomb. On the other flank, the Tokugawa spearmen there were finally scattered, and the arquebusiers reduced as the Osaka men there continued to defy the odds against them.

Tokugawa were certainly getting much the worse of the fight, as losses continued to mount. Outmatched by their Osaka adversaries, they had by now lost 12 SPs.  The exhaustion point reached, there could be no further attempt to assault the Osaka line. For their part, Osaka's losses were barely half their foes', and they were determined to push their victory home.

The tide of battle going against Tokugawa, their commander, Tadamasu, at once ordered his army to break off the action: he 'won' the initiative roll. With a fine activation roll, that bid fair to bring off his army without much further loss. Units still in contact with the enemy were left to fight on, whilst the unengaged units drew off.

In fact, must of the army was thus enabled to break clear, putting some distance between themselves and the victorious Osaka army.  There remained the isolated, and somewhat depleted samurai on the Tokugawa right, a unit of spearmen covering one of the river crossings in the centre, and another depleted unit - arquebusiers - on the extreme left. 

The fate of the last of these was quickly sealed, though they fought valiantly until the last, even managing briefly to drive off some of their assailants.

Their retreat towards the river was, however foredoomed. With little enough to do but watch their defeated foes retreat into the distance, Sanada's mounted samurai fetched a hook into the arquebusiers' rear, whilst the foot samurai returned to the frontal attack. The final few pictures tell the story.  The surrounded ashigaru even managed to knock holes in the mounted samurai unit (Sanada himself remaining uninjured). 

The isolated Samurai on the other flank soon also broke off the action, though their way back to the army, cut off as they were from the river crossings, might have been problematical.  

The final action of the day found Osaka samurai catching up with an ashigaru unit holding the east-most river crossing, and, at some cost to itself,  putting a quick end to it. Thereafter, the remains of the Tokugawa army made off as bets it could.

This was a resounding victory for Osaka - as unexpected as it was decisive.  Fifteen SPs the Tokugawa lost,1SP short of routing. Four units were destroyed. Osaka lost 10SP - and not a single unit destroyed.  In a campaign, this would amount to a disaster for Tokugawa Ieyasu.

This was one battle in which the initiative swung back and forth, both sides getting a fair share of two-in-a-row moves. Possibly the damage was done when Tokugawa's first activation roll was so miserable, and there was at least one other occasion when a mediocre roll left Tokugawa, with plenty to do, lacking the resources to do them.  That the first initiative roll went Osaka's way, following a superb score in response to Tokugawa's opening, perhaps already the latter was reading the 'epimural' script.

Just a reminder of how activation rolls are determined, I have modified (very) slightly the system in the Portable Pike and Shot book. Permitting one general - excluding army command - for each whole multiple of 6 units, both armies received 2 activation dice for the 2 generals allowed to both armies. A further activation dice was allowed for each whole multiple of 6 units. As both armies fell short of the whole dozen of units (generals don't count as units) both received one more only. Both therefore received just 3 activation dice. 

As it turned out, as no generals were lost, and not quite enough on the Tokugawa side to bring them down to fewer than 6 units, neither side suffered an attenuation of their available activation dice.

Altogether, this was probably the most exciting Sengoku battle of my series to date.